In part 1 of this blog series, we mentioned that in Alberta, we only have personal directives instead of living wills. A personal directive is a legal document that you write in case you can’t make your own personal decisions in the future.So what types of instructions must you include in your personal directive? You can write any personal matters that are non-financial in your personal directive such as:- Medical treatments you would or wouldn’t want- Where you’d like to live- Who you’d like to live with- Who you want to temporarily care for your minor children- Choices about other personal...

One of the purposes of estate planning is for you to be able to clearly communicate who you want to make personal decisions for you should you be unable to do so for yourself. In the event of medical or psychological conditions, you may not be able to communicate your decisions so being prepared for this event as well having the proper documents in place is extremely important. In a previous blog (ESTATE PLANNING: WHEN YOU ARE UNABLE TO ACT FOR YOURSELF), we mentioned you can authorize someone to act for you through a power of attorney. In Alberta, we have...

In the event you were to pass away, having an organized set of personal records will be extremely valuable to your surviving family members. It is important that they know where these records are kept and that they are organized in such a way that they will be able to find documents as quickly as possible.
Investors Group (investorsgroup.com) has listed a number of personal records that you should keep in the event that you pass away for the purpose of assisting your remaining loved ones.
1. People to contact – including next of kin, executor, employer and lawyer...

There are instances when you cannot make decisions for yourself. These instances include being in extreme medical or psychological conditions. In these cases, you can authorize someone else to make financial decisions for you. Of course, rules are different for each province and territory for these kinds of cases. There are also different names of documents used to authorize someone to act for you. Some provinces call this document “power of attorney for personal care or for property.” Others simply call it a “representation agreement.” Quebec calls it a “mandate in case of incapacity.”But even if this document is called many...